Automatic fingering device for stringed instruments.



No. 634,!24. Patented Oct. 3, |899.

J. H. SCOTT &. S. H. BROWN.

AUTOMATIC FINGERING DEVICE FR STRINGED lNSTRUMENTS.

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UTOMATIC FINGERING DEVICE FDR STRINGED INSTRUMENTS.

(Application led June 5, 1899.)

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` UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicEa JOSEPI-I II. SCOTrl AND STANTON II.BROWN, `OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALI- FORNIA.

AUTOMATIC FINAGERING DEVICE FOR STRINGED lNSTRUlVIENTS.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,124, datedOctober 3, 1899.

Application filed June 5, 1899. Serial No. 719,881. (No model..l

To a/ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that we, JOSEPH II. SCOTT and STANTON H. BROWN, citizens ofthe United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco,State of California, have invented an Improvement in Automatic FingeringDevices for Stringed Instruments; and we hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the saine.

Our invention relates to adevice which is especially applicable toguitars and similar stringed instruments; and it consists of a mechanismhereinafter described and claimed by which the various chords which itmay be desired to strike can be produced by the action of a lever orlevers, press-buttons, and an intermediate mechanism by which saidbuttons are forced down at the proper places so that the desired chordsmay be produced by causing the strings to vibrate.

The invention also comprises details of construction, which will be morefully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure lis a perspective view of our device. Fig. 2 is a plan showingthe top part. Fig. 3 is a plan showing the operating-rods. Fig. 4

is a plan of the underneath part. Fig. is a longitudinal section. Fig. 6shows the application of the device to a guitar.

In the playing of stringed instrumentssuch as guitars, banjos,mandolins, and the like-the great difficulty in striking the chords, andespecially where full chords of all the strings are required, is to holddown the strings to produce the necessary chords and clear notes. f

Our invention is designed to provide a mechanical device by which allthe chords in major or minor keys can be produced and all the stringscan be held down at one time instead of only a few, as in the case ofthe ordinary fingering of the guitar.

The apparatus consists of a light frame or casing A, having points B orsimilar devices for connecting it with the finger-board ot theinstrument.

to fit the finger-board of a guitar and these points will rest in slightindentatiens at proper points on the iinger-board, and by means of`elastic or other holding bands the device will rlhe present device isdesigned be held sufficiently close upon the lingerboard, the bandsretaining it in its proper position with relation to the strings. J ournaled transversely across this casing are the shafts C. The number ofthese shafts, as here shown, is sutlicient to correspond with the fourfrets included in what is known as the first position on the instrument,and these shafts have loosely coiled upon them the wires D, which formbearings and have arms DD2, projecting at right angles to each other.The arm D' carries a press-button or key E and extends, essentially,parallel with the fingerboard in a longitudinal line, the device beingso attached to the 'linger-board that these keys will when depressedpress the strings down just above the frets, so as to give a clear tonewhen the string is vibrating. The other end D2 of the wire projectsupwardly, and each of these upwardly-projecting ends is engaged by theslotted sliding plate F when the latter is moved. These plates F haveslots made through them, as shown, and certain offsets, as shown at f,which are adapted to engage a certain number of the upwardlyprojectinglevers DE when the plates are moved thus over the six strings of theguitar. There will be six of these plates F, superposed one above theother and slidable in a tray or guide G, which rests upon the base A, sothat t-he lever-arms D2 project up through the slots in all of theseplates. ."he plates are so disposed that when one certain chord isdesired one of the plates is moved and its guide sliding in thedirection of the length of the iinger-board'a certain number of theslots or offsets j" will engage with the corresponding levers I)2 andwill press them forward, thus depressing the keys which are carried bythese particular levers, and these keys pressing upon the correspondingstrings above the frets will produce the desired chord. rIhe keys returnafter being thus depressed by the action of light pressure-springs Il'.

In order to operate the plates F to produce the results above described,a series of levers I are properly fulcrumed upon the base A, and each ofthem is connected to its own longitudinal rod guided and slidable uponthe base A. Each of these rods J has an upturned arm K, and these arms Kengage with IOC) , on, and as each of the arms K and its connecting-rodJ is actuated by one of the levers l it will bc seen that the movementof either of these levers will advance the plate with which it isconnected and will thus press a certain number of the keys to producethe desired chord.

The strings will be struck with the lingers or in any other suitablemanner to cause them to vibrate and the performer does not need to beexpert in lingering the instrument, as it is only necessary to movecertain levers to produce certain chords.

The tray G in which the slides l are placed rests, as before stated,upon the base A and is inclosed within a cap o r cover L, which is hereshown as hinged to the base A, so that it may be opened for the removalor inspection of the parts; but when in use it is closed down, thusinclosing the tray G within its side walls.

ln the upper part of the cover .ll is fulcrumed an arm O, having upon ittransverse bars P, which rest upon the uppermost of the plates F and actas guides to hold the plates down and prevent their being lifted out ofproper position as they slide back and forward when operated by theiractuating-levers.

The distance between the sides of the cover L is greater than the widthof the tray G, which carries the plates F, and one of the arms Pcontacts with the inner sides of the tray G.

The bar O is pivoted at one end and the other end is connected with thecentral arm Q of the rocking lever Q, which is pivoted to the cover Land has the ends of its arms projecting through slots in the side, sothat by pressure upon one end of the lever it is tilted and the bar Omoved to one side, carrying with it the. tray G and the plates F. lVhentilted in the opposite direction, it moves the tray and plates to theopposite side. The object of this movement is to change the key in whichthe instrument is being played, and it produces this result by reason ofthe offsets j". Thus when the tray stands in such position that certainof the slots have their full length in the line of the npturned leversD2 the movement of one of the levers l will cause the corresponding1slide F to be moved by it; but whenever the long portion of the slot isin line with the lever-arm D2 no action of the key will take place.Wherever there is an offset f projecting into the path of the lever themovement of that particular. slide will cause that offset to actuate thelever which is in line with it. Thus the movement of one of the platesmay actuate a certain number of the levers D2 and depress thecorresponding keys upon the springs to produce the chord. The movementof a certain other lever will produce another chord, and so on throughthe list. Now if the tray G is shifted to the opposite side within thecover L it will be manifest that the position of the slots and theoffsets will be changed and that other offsets will be brought into linewith the lever-arms D2 and other portions of the long slots will bebrought into line with the leverarms D?, so that those particular armswill not be acted upon by the movement of the sliding plate. This willproduce an entire change in keys, so that with the six keys and the sideadjustment of the tray the principal chords of three major and minor-kcys of the guitar may be played with a single set of sixactuating-levers l and six of the sliding plates.

It will be manifest that modifications of this device maybe made to suitother instruments having a different number of strings and a differentarrz'nigement of frets; but this illustration of the operation rendersit easy to apply the device in essentially the same form to any similarinstrument.

The key-carrying arms and the upwardlyextending arms by which they areactuated have a yielding connection which maybe pro- `duced either byforming these arms with a yielding coil, which turns upon the.supporting-shaft, or the arms themselves may have sufficientindependent elasticity for the purpose and may be attached to sleeves,which are turnable upon the shafts. The object of this elasticity is toallow any one or more of the key-carrying arms to yield and adjustitself to the positions of any of the others, so that if thefinger-board ofan instrumentbe slightly convened the keys nearest thecenter will have pressed their springs down before the others at theoutside will have reached a bearing; but the yielding of the key-Shankswill allow the other keys to also come to a proper bearing.

By changing` the slides the instrument can be played in any key, and anydifferent number of slides or actuating parts may be used withoutaltering the character of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A fingering device for stringed instruments comprising a base orsupport and mea-ns for attaching it to the finger-board of theinstrument, sets of arms arranged one set substantially at right angleswith the other, and adapted to turn about an axis common to both, eacharm of one set connected with the corresponding arm of the other set andone set of arms lying'substantially parallel with the linger-board, andmechanism by which one set of arms is actuated to cause the other set tohold down the strings of theinstrument.

2. A fingering device for stringed instruments comprising a base, shaftsextending transversely across the hase, sleeves loosely IOO eea-,isa :i

turnable upon said shafts having arms cxtending at right anglestherefrom, one lying horizontally along the line of the linger-board andhaving a key lixed to its end, the other extending upwardly at rightangles therewith, mechanism for moving said levers and depressing thekeys, and springs by which the keys are returned when pressure isrelieved.

3. The lingering device for stringed instruments consisting of a supportand means for attaching it to the linger-board of the instrument, shaftsxed transversely across the support, elastic coils loosely turnable uponthe shafts, each having an upwardly-projecting arm and ahorizontally-projecting arm, keys carried upon thehoriZontally-projecting arm, levers and intermediate mechanism actingupon the upwardly-projecting arms whereby the keys are depressed to holddown the strings of the instrument, and springs by which the keys areraised when the levers are released.

i. A fingering device for vstringed instruments consisting of a support,means for attaching it to the finger-board of the instrument, transverseshafts carried by said support, coil-springs loosely and independentlyturnable upon said shafts, each having a horizontal arm with a key iixedto its end and a returning spring, an upwardly -projecting arm, a seriesof longitudinally-movable sletied slides, through which slots theupwardlyextending arms project, offsets in said slides adapted to engagewith certain of the arms when either of the slides is moved, levers andintermediate mechanism by which either of the slides may be movedindependently of the others, and a series of keys controlled therebydepressed upon the strings to form chords when the strings-are caused tovibrate.

5. A lingering device for stringed instruments consisting of a support,shafts carried thereby, sleeves mounted on the shafts and provided withkey carrying and actuating arms arranged in pairs with one number ol'each pair lying substantially parallel with the finger-board and so thatthe keys may be depressed upon the finger-board, a tray mounted upon thekey-support, a series of superposed sliding plates having slots throughwhich the actuating-arms of the keys project, offsets made in theslotted plates adapted to engage and tilt certain arms and keys by themovement of either of the slides, and lever-arms projecting 'from thecase and movable by the performeigeach of said levers being connectedwith one of the slides, so that any of the slides may be movedindependently of the others.

(i. A fingering device for stringed instruments consisting of a supportwith transverse shafts, key-carrying arms supported `from said shafts,extending above the strings of the instrument, upwardly-extending armsconnected with each of said key-carrying arms, a tray having snperposedslotted plates slidable therein, through which slots theupwardly-extending arms pass, offsets made in cach of the slots withrelation to the arms so as to engage and move certain arms and keys wheneitherof the slides is moved, 'fulcrumed levers projecting vfrom thesides of the case within reach of the performer, rods connecting withand movable by said levers having` upturned arms, each of which engagesone of the slides whereby the movement of each lever will actuate oneofthe slides independently of the other and depress the keys to producethe desired chords.

7. A lingering device for stringed instruments consisting of a supportwith movable key-actuating arms, slotted slides with offsets engagingsaid arms and levers by which the slides are movable independently, atray or carrier within which the slides are movable, a housinginclosingsaid tray and means connected therewith by which the tray and its slidesmay be shifted to one side or the other so as to move certain offsets inthe slides out of line with the key-actuating arms, and bring othersinto line therewith whereby the musical keys may be changed.

S. A hngering devicefor stringed instruments consisting of a support,key-carrying arms extending above the strings of the instrument, otherarms extending at right angles therewith and movable each in unison withone of the keys, a tray having slotted sliding plates movablelongitudinally therein, said plates having offsets and adapted to bebrought into line with the keyactuating arms, a shifting device attachedto the keys adapted to move the slides and their tray to one side or theother within the case whereby the different set of keys may be depressedand the musical key changed, lever-arms projecting through the side ofthe ease, connecting-rods having one end united with theactuating-levers and the other having upturncd ends, each engaging andmoving one of the slidablelplates so that the movement of either of thelevers will hold down certain keys to produce the musical chord, and theshifting of the slidable plates, with the same mechanism, will produce adifferent set of musical chords.

El. A lingering attachment for stringed nstru ments consisting of abase, shafts carried thereby, slee es loosely turnable upon said shaftswith arms extending at right angles therefrom, one lying horizontallyalong the line of the linger-board and having a key fixed to its end,the other extending upwardly at an angle therewith, mechanism for movingsaid arms and depressing the keys, and to return the keys to theirnormal position when released, and yielding connections by which anyruns of keys are depressed to Yfit varying curvatures of differentfinger-boards.

ln witness whereof wc have hereunto set our hands.

JOSEPH ll. SCOTT. STANTON H. BROVN. -Witnesses:

S. il. Nom-isn, Guo. ll. Simone.

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